By the mid-1970s Verney were looking to divest themselves of their manufacturing activities. The new CBM company was formed to take over the factory and bus production. However, before long, CBM had taken some rather surprising decisions over what direction the new company should take. Rather than build upon their existing market providing rural and interurban buses for the Verney group, CBM launched a range of brand-new urban buses that were obviously aimed at customers of the mighty Saviem and Berliet companies. Two ranges were to be offered, with very similar body styling but differing mechanical layouts. The TDU range was powered by a front-mounted turbocharged DAF engine mounted under the driver and was clearly pitched squarely at Saviem SC10 customers. The LMB, on the other hand, was powered by a rear-underfloor-mounted Mercedes V6 engine and was more in the mould of Berliet's PR100. With this concentration on the urban bus market, production of the traditional Verney interurban models tailed off and ceased.

Where CBM hoped to gain over the big manufacturers was in offering a wider range of options. The TDU was available initially in three lengths, later joined by a fourth. These were the TDU10, a short-tailed 10-metre bus with front entrance and centre exit, the TDU11, a conventional 11-metre city bus available with two or three doors, and the monstrous TDU12, a full 12 metres in length and boasting a third axle to carry the extra weight. From 1980, a small version, the 8.5-metre TDU850, was added. This had two doorways - an entrance at the front and an exit in the rear overhang. The LMB range came in two lengths, the conventional 11-metre LMB11 and the larger 3-axle LMB12. Both types had two doorways, a front entrance and centre exit. Since both Saviem and Berliet had tended to concentrate mainly on producing standard 11-metre buses (although both had also produced smaller buses at various times) the production of a range of lengths looked like an astute move.

Getting customers to take the plunge and move away from the products of the major manufacturers proved less easy. Verney group companies bought the new buses for the urban networks that they operated, however few others were willing to switch from their traditional suppliers. The biggest orders came from Lille, which bought batches of LMB11s initially before switching to TDU11s. Le Mans also built up a substantial fleet of TDU11s, no doubt in the interest of supporting their local manufacturer and having easy access to spare parts. Elsewhere, operators seemed too firmly attached to their fleets of SC10s or PR100s to change.

Perhaps the most encouraging sales were of the little TDU850. The midibus of the range was never expected to be a volume seller, however it sat in a sector of the market in which there was little competition with Renault-group products. CBM therefore decided to invest in a replacement for the TDU850 to cater for this market. The new model, the 220B, emerged in 1983. Similar in size to the TDU850 and also featuring front and rear doorways, the new bus featured a DAF engine (or Renault in the case of buses supplied to RATP), mounted midway along the offside of the bus. Styling-wise, it made a complete break from the cohesive style found on the LMB and TDU ranges - the new bus was a rather angular-looking beast with particularly tall windows. The 220B sold reasonably well, including batches to large customers such as RATP and CGFTE in Bordeaux, however this was not enough to prevent the CBM company from ceasing bus production in 1986. The company was subsequently restructured as a parts supplier to the bus industry (the CBM acronym being reassigned to stand for Car et Bus Maintenance), but no more bus construction has taken place.

Following the collapse of CBM, Renault acquired the rights to build the 220B, although they weren't especially interested in building it themselves. Instead, the bus, badged as the Renault R212, was built on Renault's behalf by Heuliez. Production restarted in mid-1987 and continued at a steady rate until 1989, by which time a further 60 buses had been produced. In 1989, Heuliez acquired all the rights to the model in order to completely reengineer it as the GX77H.

These days, CBMs are a rare breed. The LMB must now be extinct – the only examples I've ever seen have been semi-dismantled in a scrapyard in the suburbs of Lille. At least one of the Lille buses has been preserved. Lille was also the biggest customer for the TDU11 and still retained a number of them until late 2001, although they were latterly found only as peak hour extras and the external condition of many of them was rather poor. I seized the opportunity to travel on one when I was in Lille in May 2000 – as the type has now been withdrawn from service in Lille it seems unlikely that I'll get another chance. Again, local enthusiasts in Lille have saved an example. 

The 220B, and its successor the R212, can still be found in small numbers scattered around the country, although it is rare to find more than two or three in any one place. Small buses tend not to enjoy quite such long lives as their full size counterparts so these too are unlikely to be a feature of the French bus scene for much longer. Those in Paris and Bordeaux have been replaced by newer midibuses.